Shock-absorber for aeroplane-landing.



J. KUHAJDA.

SHOCK ABSORBER FOR AEROPLANE LANDING.

APPLICATION man FEB. 20. 1914.

LWLWL Patented Nov. 23, 1915.

WITNESSES: Z 0 INVENTOR.

JOSEPH KUHAJ' DA, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

S HOGK-AJBSORBER FOR AEROPLANE-LANDING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 23, 11915.

Application filed February 20, 1914. Serial No. 819,988.

subject of the King of Hungary, residing at New York, in the county ofNew York and State of New York, hai e invented new and usefulImprovements in Shock-Absorbers for Aeroplane-Landing, of which the fol-.lowing is a specification.

My invention relates to an aeroplane lifting device, and has as itsprincipal object the provision of means whereby an aeroplane may risefrom the ground without running first along the same for a certaindistance. I

A second object of my invention is to provide means whereby an aeroplanemay land safely and gradually.

A final object of my invention resides in the particular arrangement andcombination of parts hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawing: Figure 1 is a front View of the device asmounted on the frame of an aeroplane, only partly shown, and havingsymmetrically on the other side another device such as shown on Fig; Imounted in the same manner. Fig. 2 is a view ontop of the device withpart of the framing of the aeroplane. Fig. 3 is a detail view of thedevice shown in Fig. 1.

In the separate views the same part is designated by the same referencecharacter. Referring more particularly to the drawing, 1 designates partof the skeleton framework of an aeroplane, the other part thereof beingsubstantially symmetrical with that shown and described hereinafter.Each of the symmetric parts carries a shaft 6 suitably secured to thestays of the framework 1 and provided, at its lower end, with a frictionwheel 6 adapted to be actuated by a motor also carried by the aeroplane,but not shown in the drawing. At its upper end the shaft 6 carries abeveled gear wheel 10.

Rotatably mounted on the shaft 6 is a hollow shaft 5 carrying, at itslower end, a friction wheel 5 adapted to be actuated by thebefore-mentioned motor and, at its upper end, a cylindrical casing 30 onwhich is suspended, by means of wires 7, a circular plane 2 having, attwo diametrically opposite parts of its circumference, substantiallyll-shaped portions cut' away, whereby it is divided into twohalf-planes, each occupying somewhat less than 180 of the circle. Theplane 2 is so bent that the two half-planes are at an angle in respectto each other, each one being, besides, inclined at an angle in respectto the vertical shafting. The plane 2 is provided with downhanging,inclined flange 3 all around its periphery. It is made rigid on theshaft 5 by means of stays 7 connected to brackets 9 carried by the shaft5.

Hinged to the casing 30 are two sleeves 12', the outer ends of which aresuitably secured to the inner surface of the downhanglng flange 3, onein front of each half-plane. The sleeves l2 serve as bearings for shafts12 carrying, at their upper ends, beveled gear wheels 11 in engagementwith the beveled gear wheel 10, and, at their lower ends, gear wheels 12in engagement with other gear wheels 13 rigidly mounted on shafts 13carrying small propellers 13. The shafts l3 are mounted on the bracketin front of each half-plane by which the sleeves 12' are also securedthereto.

It will be obvious from this arrangement that when the motor is inaction, the plane 2 will be rotated around the shaft 5, in a horizontalplane, while at-the same time the propellers 13 will be actuated in avertical plane. The power transmission is so calculated that thepropellers 13 rotate much quicker than the plane 2. Thus a liftingaction will be produced which is equivalent to two monoplanes coupledtogether on a vertical axis and forced to rotate around same, eachhalf-plane with its respective propeller constituting practically onemonoplane of the usual construction, with the difference that thepropellers thereof are not actuated by motors directly, but bytransmission from one motor which drives also the shaft carrying theplane. This arrangement will cause the aeroplane to rise from the spotperpendicularly, as theweight of the machine is partly supported by theplane at whatever altitude it may have reached, the same as is the casewith common aeroplanes, whereas the driving force developed by thepropellers will act in a circle instead of in a straight direction. Ifthe motor becomes disabled or is stopped on any other account, the plane2 with the flange 3 will act as a parachute in preventing its droppingdown too suddenly.

In order to facilitate the rising of the aeroplane from the round, andto render its descent smoother, provide a compressed air tank 14 securedto one of the stays of the framework 1, having suitable connections overthe piston 16, the latter will be pushed downward and thereby lift theaeroplane from the ground. The upper part of the piston-rod 17 iscontinued into a cylinder 19 mounted on top of the cylinder 15 and hasanother piston 20 attached to it which slides in the cylinder 19.Divided by a perforated wall 21 from the cylinder 19 is a chamber 22 ofthe same capacity and both are filled with oil. Therefore, when theaeroplane alights on the leg 18 the piston 20 will be pushed upward inthe cylinder 19 and force the oil from on top of the piston 20 under itthrough the perforations, thus braking, as it were, the rod 17 andrendering the descent smooth. A slide-bar 21 provided with perforationsregistering with those of the wall 21 is slidably mounted in front ofsame and may be lowered or raised by means of a knob 23,

so that the size of the openings between the cylinder 19 and the chamber22, and thereby the overflow of the oil, may be regulated,

thus regulating also the resistance offered to the piston by the oil. Itwill be clear that when the aeroplane starts from the ground, theopenings in the wall 21 will be made as large as ossible so that thecompressed air may free y push the rod 17 down, whereas on alighting theopening of the perforations will be regulated according to requirements.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is In an aeroplane incombination, a cylinder, a piston slidably mounted in said cylinder, asupport on which the aeroplane may rest, connections between saidsupport and said piston, said cylinder having oil therein, and a memberat one side of said pistoncylinder, the wall between said chamber andsaid cylinder being provided with apertures through which the oil may beforced by said piston when the aeroplane rises or settles to the groundand a slide bar likely apertured and controlled by means for lifting itup or pushingit down for regulating the overflow of oil between saidcylinder and said chamber.

In testimony whereof I afiix my slgnature in the presence of twowitnesses.

JOE KUHAJDA.

Witnesses:

ALEXANDER DENES,

ALADAR HAMBURG-ER.

